To the surprise of no one, the NFL won’t let Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy hang out with Roger Goodell in the commissioner’s mancave.
Portnoy, a notorious Goodell critic, won a $250,000 charity auction during the NFL Draft to watch a “Monday Night Football” game with Goodell in the commissioner’s basement mancave. The league won’t let that happen, however, saying Portnoy failed a necessary background check.
“He was the highest bidder, but the bid was contingent upon a background check,” NFL vice president of communications Brian McCarthy told Ben Fischer of Sports Business Daily. “So he consented to the background check, and it came back and he heard from the NFL today that he did not pass the background check. He will not be the winner.”
Among the reasons cited for Portnoy failing the background check: a pair of arrests for trespassing at NFL headquarters in 2015 and 2016, as well as falsifying credentials and ignoring a league ban during Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta. It also mentioned a 2011 incident in which Portnoy posted a nude photo of Tom Brady’s then 2-year-old son.
The league said that it will donate the $250,000 to charity, as it intended to do during the draft-a-thon. Instead of Portnoy, the league will select a “deserving front line worker” to meet Goodell and watch a game with him.
Ultimately, given Portnoy’s record and motives, it won’t be a surprise that the NFL won’t be allowing this to happen. Portnoy even expected that, and no one else should be surprised either.
